Kosovo’s airspace reopened yesterday (3 April) for civilian overflights

for the first time in 15 years. A boon to Macedonia, not all of the Balkan
country’s neighbors are pleased.

The airspace above Kosovo was blocked in 1999 for civilian aircrafts
above 8700 metres, after the NATO-led airstrikes over Serbia.

The deal on the reopening of Kosovo’s airspace was carefully

coordinated by NATO, Eurocontrol, and regional aviation agencies from
Hungary, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece,
Bulgaria, Slovenia and Austria. The director general of Eurocontrol,
Frank Brenner stressed that the airspace opening over the former
Serbian province will “save 370 nautical miles yearly, 24.000 tonnes of
fuel and 75.000 tonnes of CO2”.

For the neighbouring countries, the open sky above Kosovo is good
news as well.

The director of the Macedonian civil aviation agency, Dejan Mojsoski,

welcomed the deal, saying that it would attract more airlines and
increase competition in the country by up to 50%.

“This will decrease the prices in air transport and in air tickets for the
Macedonian passengers to travel in European countries because
competition among companies will increase,” he said adding that
defragmentation of the regional airspace was of the utmost
importance in order to create the shortest and most flexible routes.

But not all neighbours are set to gain as much from this new
development, experts say.

Macedonia should see the biggest flyover increase, followed by Bosnia

and Slovenia, while countries like Albania, Bulgaria and Romania are
expected to see a decline in airspace traffic.

The upper airspace control over Kosovo has been in the hands of the
Hungary’s Hungarocontrol, a privately owned firm, since 2011, after the
former Serbian province declared independence, which Belgrade does
not recognise.

FURTHER READING

 Pravda: Ma?ari dobili kontrolu letenja nad Kosovom i Metohijom

 Ex-Yu Aviation News: Kosovo airspace reopens

 EURACTIV
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Topics
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 Frank Brenner

 Kosovo

 Transport

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

 RANSPORTATION IN KOSOVO


 Although indicated by political issues, transport in Kosovo is relatively

developed. Since the declaration of the independence, there have been many
improvements in the infrastructure and urban transport.
 Airports
 Pristina International Airport (PIA) Adem Jashari (IATA: PRN, ICAO: BKPR) is an
international airport located 15 km southwest of Prishtina. Since 2010, PIA is
being managed by Limak and Aeroports de Lyon through Public Private
Partnership Agreement. It has a 42,000 meters square modern terminal,
handling over a million passengers per year.
 In June 2006, Pristina International Airport was awarded the Best Airport 2006
Award in the category of 1.7 million passengers per year. Winning airports
were selected for excellence and achievement across a range of disciplines
including airport development, operations, facilities, security and safety, and
customer service.
 PIA serves different international airway lines and offers flights to the most
important European destinations. There are almost daily flights to Zurich-
Switzerland, Frankfurt-Germany; Vienna-Austria Ljubljana-Slovenia, Istanbul-
Turkey; and much more.
 http://www.airportpristina.com/
 Railways
 Domestic destinations accessible by rail include Pristina, Peja, Fushë Kosovë,
Gracanica, Han I Elezit and Mitrovica. There is also a service to Skopje in
Macedonia. Internal rail services are generally poor and less reliable then
buses unfortunately. Nevertheless, if you do have the time to head out
to/from Skopje by train the view will amaze you considering that it is very
scenic.
 For further information, contact Kosovo Railways www.kosovorailway.com
 Roads
 Traffic drives on the right. Road are not that good; however, they are getting
better as most of them are being constructed or reconstructed.
 The maximum speeds are 80 km/hr in highways, 60 km/hr in main roads and
35 km/hr in urban areas.
 Drivers must use headlights at all time and have the fist-aid kit and yellow
vest. From November 15–cars should have snow chains. As a heads up
though, traffic jams are known to be very long especially in Pristina, so if you
happen to be in the city, a recommendation of going-by-foot would be of
good use.
 The most important motorways are:
 R6 Motorway (Arbën Xhaferi Motorway) which is under construction and is
part of European Route E65. This motorway links Pristina with Skopje.
 R7 Motorway ( Dr. Ibrahim Rugova Highway) is part of European route E851
and links Kosovo with Albania.
 Car Hire
 Car rental is the best way to solve your traveling problem. Both major
international and local firms offer car hire at airports and larger towns. The
daily cost for a small economical car is around Euro 60 per car.
 To get more detailed information about car rental and to rent a car, contact
us at cars@www.beinkosovo.com or fill in the request form HERE
 Bus
 There are services between most towns, and most buses are comfortable
with air-conditioning. Tickets are usually paid directly if there are any seats
available. Buses in Kosovo are quite reliable and frequent and cover most of
the country. For more information concerning Bus Routes the number of
Prishtinas central bus station: (038)518-142/550-011.
 Taxi
 Main cities have metered taxis. It is possible to negotiate a fare when the
meters are not in use. However, we suggest you to take a metered taxi as
you will pay only the regular rate per km. In both cases ask if the car has a
meter or agree a fare before setting off.